The Hidden Happiness
by MrsWeasley99
Summary: When Luna Lovegood learns a lesson from her father after the death of her mother, the advice comes in handy later in life when George has a personal conversation with her about the loss of Fred. Can she help George see happiness within the situation?


"Daddy, why did Mommy have to die?" asked a young girl with pensive eyes and long blonde hair. The girl's father shifted uncomfortably. Xenophilius Lovegood missed his  
wife more than anyone could possibly imagine.  
"It is a natural part of life, Luna," he said to her. "Depressing, but natural. Everyone must die eventually."  
"Even me?"  
"Well, in the distant future. But for now, you're only 11 years old. It is better to enjoy life now than to dwell on the past and the future."  
Luna's eyes swelled with tears.  
"It's okay to cry, Luna. But constant sadness does not make things better. Think of the happy times you two have had. But don't you have other things to worry about?  
Like living life and enjoying yourself? What I did was I saved my tears for times when I had nothing better to do. But look what we have right now! There's a game of  
Wizard's Chess, you could be learning about Wrackspurts, or flying a kite. What do you say?"  
"Let's do all three!"  
Her father chuckled and put an arm around her. "I love you, Luna."  
"I love you too, Daddy."

Since that day, Luna Lovegood followed her father's advice. Now, she is 17 and she has not changed much from when she was 11 years old. Of course, she is wiser  
now and more mature, but her curiosity has not changed one bit, and she still looked like a child. But you could also say that she is braver; just last year, a major  
battle took place at her school, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She survived the torture that the Death Eaters had put her through. She hardly ever cries.  
And despite the fact that she seems to be quite sensitive, she really couldn't care less about others' opinions on her.

Anyway, she lived in a house with her father upon a hill. It was wooden and had an awkward structure. Outside of their house, there were signs that read 'Keep  
off the diridgable plums' and garden gnomes roaming around the yard. Just down the hill from their house was another house similar to theirs, only taller. It looked  
more like a sloppy sculpture of a house. Basically it looked like other old houses were piled on top of one another.

This house was called the Burrow. It is home to the Weasley family (you'd know they were Weasleys because all eight of them had red hair and old, dusty  
clothes). Luna had two good friends down there known as Ron Weasley and Ginny Weasley. Besides them, there are five more children (all older boys). There was Bill, who  
was now married to a girl who was part veela. There was Charlie, who was currently in Romania studying dragons. And there was George, who used to be the life of the  
party, but not anymore; his twin brother Fred died in the Battle of Hogwarts last year.

There was a knock on Luna's door, and Luna opened it expecting to see Ron or Ginny. But it wasn't either of them. It was George.

Luna had never really been close to George Well, they knew each other, but they never actually talked to one another or anything. Probably because at school,  
Luna was known as Loony Lovegood.

"Hello," said Luna smiling politely.  
"Hey," said George with a crooked grin. Luna could tell that he was trying to smile.  
"We have never talked before," said Luna. "Why did you come?"  
"Well, I was going to tell you that Ginny is busy with Harry, but...this may sound weird but, I could use some company, and my family isn't helping. I know we've never  
talked but...I don't know...I just need someone new. You're the closest I could find. Can you come over?"  
"Of course."

Luna followed George. Normally, a girl would have asked why she was asked by a guy she hardly ever spoke to in the past to go to his house. But not Luna.  
Either it was because she goes there a lot, or because of her high level of curiosity. Or because she felt bad for George no longer having the other half of himself.  
They went into the house and saw the usual floating dishes scrubbing themselves and Mrs. Weasley's special clock, which showed where all of her children and husband  
were at all times (home, school, travelling, etc.).

"Hello, Mrs. Weasley," said Luna kindly to the small plump red haired woman.  
"Oh, hello, dear," said Mrs. Weasley. "Ginny is upstairs with Harry, but if you want I can tell Ron you-"  
"She's with me, Mum," said George. He walked upstairs and beckoned Luna to follow, so she did. He led her to a room that had two twin size beds and painted with bright  
red and yellow. Gryffindor.

"This was our room," said George.  
"Our". Fred.  
"I'm sorry about Fred," said Luna softly. "I know what it's like to lose someone you love that much."  
"You do?"  
Luna nodded. "My mom. I was nine. It makes me sad often."  
"It's just...Fred. My Fred. My brother. I've been feeling so empty since last year. I can't even explain how it feels. I've never hurt this bad."  
Luna thought for a moment. She did feel awful for George. Very awful. But she didn't know what to say. What could she say?  
"It is better to enjoy life now than to dwell on the past and the future."  
Her voice was brave. She sounded so...not like Luna. George looked at her.  
"My Daddy told me that when I was upset about my mom. Crying is okay. But constant sadness does not make things better. Save your tears for the right moments.  
Otherwise, you will remain an empty shell. You will never be happy again. But you have plenty of chances to be happy."  
She sounded wiser.  
"Wow," said George in an amazed tone. "I've never thought about it that way."  
Luna smiled at him. She looked so much older. So mature. And all George was thinking was, "When did this girl become so damn beautiful?"  
He locked eyes with her blue ones and leaned forward. She's brave. She's smart. She's pretty. She's perfect.  
The two of them closed their eyes and tilted their heads to the side. Their lips met and they were kissing. Both of them got a warm tingling feeling at the contact.  
Luna had never kissed a boy. George hasn't kissed a girl since before Fred died. But George knew what Luna meant when there were other chances to be happy. Because 10  
years later, 7 year old Fred Weasley Jr. and 5 year old Beatrice Weasley were happy. Luna leaned her head on George's shoulder as they watched the boy with strawberry  
blonde hair and hazel eyes and the girl with red hair and dreamy blue eyes play with each other on the swingset.  
"Mommy!" exclaimed Beatrice. "Look what I found!"  
Beatrice ran over to her parents and showed them a dusty photograph. The couple could not make out who it was at first, but George blew off the dust and for a second,  
could've sworn he was looking into a mirror.  
"Woah!" said Fred Jr. "Was that you, Dad?"  
"No," said George. Then he smiled. "And yes."  
The children looked puzzled.  
"Kids, this is your uncle Fred. He was my twin. I used to tell you stories about him, remember?"  
The children started jumping up and down when they recalled the stories that never failed to disappoint.  
"Well, he was more than a twin. He was my other half. He would have loved you two so much and..."  
His voice trailed off. Luna patted him on the shoulder and nodded her head in a reassuring way. George let the tears creep down his face. His children looked worried.  
Beatrice climbed into his lap, and Fred sat in between him and Luna.  
"Someone once told me that crying over the dead is okay at the right moments. But there are still opportunities to enjoy life. And I'm enjoying it quite well right now  
with you three. Want to know why? Because I'm happy. Fred may be gone. But he's still with us...in here." He pointed to his heart. "And I don't care if I can't see him  
right now. We made plenty of great memories that will never fade away. That's what the same person who gave me this advice did with their sadness. And now, this person  
is one of the greatest people I know. It is your mother."  
He looked at Luna and saw that she was smiling, her blue eyes filled with tears.  
"Our time will pass, kids," George went on placing an arm around both of them and scooting closer to Fred and Luna. "And when it does, remember what I just told you  
two. Okay?"

He must've been talking longer than he thought. The sky went from sunset to darkness. The air was warm and there were stars scattered all over the sky and a  
bright full moon. Beatrice's eyes were heavy and she leaned into George's chest. Fred locked arms with his father, leaning on his arm. Luna and George smiled.  
"Children," said Luna. "We love you."  
She leaned over and gave Beatrice a peck on the forehead and leaned back to do the same to Fred.  
"Always," said George. He leaned in to kiss his daughter's cheek, tousling her curly red hair slightly. Then he kissed his son's head and whispered I love you to both  
children. The kids fell asleep.  
"I love you, honey," said George.  
"I love you too," said Luna. They kissed on the lips. They pulled apart and looked up at the sky. Throughout the stars, there were two that stood out and emitted a  
brighter glow than the rest.  
"I love you, Mum," whispered Luna. One of the two stars shone even brighter for a second. Luna knew she said, "I love you too, darling", as she always did when she was  
younger.  
"Love you, Fred," said George. The other one glowed brighter as well. George smiled.

Two wonderful children, a wonderful spouse...what more could anyone need? After all, nobody ever really leaves us.

-The End-


End file.
